Kenny Burrell played several nights at the Village Vanguard in August of 1993, and those shows are documented on two CDs -- this one and Then Along Came Kenny, which was released the following year. Both were produced by
Burrell with Yoichi Nakao and feature an unfortunately ill-defined sound; pianist
James Williams, bassist
Peter Washington and drummer
Sherman Ferguson are clearly audible, but
Burrell's guitar is sometimes muffled. The program itself is quite nice, and features a good mix of standards, modern compositions and
Burrell originals, but the guitarist is hobbled, as he is on the other recording from this series of concerts, by a certain tentativeness.
Burrell's tendency to hedge his bets is brought out most sharply on the
Thelonious Monk compositions -- if you play "Bemsha Swing" safe, you're not playing "Bemsha Swing." But he does have great tone, and there's no arguing with any of the specific gestures he makes; the problem lies in those he doesn't make and could have. ~ Rick Anderson